Khalil Abonula

Biography

Khalil Abonula is a Palestinian born in the city of Nazareth into a musical family. His father and mother were singers and both played the oud. His mother taught him to play the oud and introduced him to Arabic music theory. Since his childhood, Abonula participated in school's special events as a solo singer and joined the church choir where he learned many of the Byzantine hymns. He grew up listening to the masters of Arab classical music, particularly the Egyptians Sayyed Darwish, Saleh Abdel Hay, and Mohammad Abdel Wahhab, as well as the Lebanese Wadi' Al-Safi, whose voice and style of singing particularly caught Abonula's attention. From the age of 12, Abonula began to join his father as a singer in community events and parties, where he began to develop his musicality and talent and his search for his own musical independence. After high school, Abonula formed his first music band called "Samah," named after a spiritual style of singing and dancing in Syria.